Swimming pool adjustable floor and cover arrangement



April1,1969 AgGFORMEL v3,435,465

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April l, 1969 A. G. FORMEL. 3,435,465

SWIMMING POOL ADJUSTABLE FLOOR AND COVER ARRANGEMENT Filed Aug. l?, 196e sheet 4 of 4 Fig. I4

` INVENTOR. ADRIAN GILBERT FORMEL BY @www ATTORNEY United States Patent() 3,435,465 SWIMMING POOL ADJUSTABLE FLOOR AND COVER ARRANGEMENT Adrian Gilbert Formel, 45 E. Putnam Ave., Greenwich, Conn. 06830 Filed Aug. 17, 1966, Ser. No. 573,106

Int. Cl. E04h 3/16 U.S. Cl. 4 172 11 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a swimming pool adjustable floor and cover arrangement in 'which the vertically movable floor-cover can be used for the dual purposes of regulating the pool depth and for covering the entire pool area when the `floor-cover is raised to an elevation over the surface of the water in the pool.

An object of the present invention is to provide a swimming pool floor-cover which eliminates the need for projecting installations forming obstnuctions on the deck area surrounding the pool, and in which the means for raising and lowering the swimming pool door-cover is non-electric, thereby providing an important safety factor.

A further object of the present invention is to provide stabilizing devices to maintain the oor-cover structure in a level position and to form a plurality of support points thereby reducing the overall strength requirements of the lloor-cover structure.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a second means for elevating and lowering the iloor-cover arrangement when necessary, said means being additional to the prime moving source for said floor-cover.

A further object of the present invention is a means for aerating the pool water to inhibit algae and bacteria, which means is incorporated in the present arrangement.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an expansion tank in the water circulation system in order to capture excessive water that surges out of the pool when the `floor-cover is operative and further providing a means for returning the same back to the pool.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a floor-cover that can be adapted to any swimming Ipool conguration.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a swimming pool floor-cover that is relatively inexpensive to construct yet is reliably eiective for the purposes intended.

FIG. l is a top plan view of the iloor-cover construction embodying my invention with the deck removed for purposes of clarity.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view thereof with the deck in place and elevated to the cover position.

FIG. 3 is a view taken along the lines 3 3 of FIIG. 1 and showing the -iloor-cover in the elevated position.

FIG. 4 is a view taken along the lines 3 3 of FIG. l and showing the floor-cover in the lowered position.

FIG. 5 is a view taken along the lines 5 5 of FIG. l and showing the auxiliary cylinder and the licor-cover in the elevated position.

3,435,465 Patented Apr. 1, 1969 ICC FIG. 6 is a view taken along the lines 5 5 of FIG. l and showing the auxiliary cylinder and the door-cover in the lowered position.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the lines 7 7 of FIG. 1 showing a novel detail of the expansion tank construction of the present floor-cover arrangement.

FIG. 8 is a top plan View of another embodiment of the present invention with the deck removed for purposes of clarity.

FIG. 8a is a view taken along the lines 8a 8a of FIG. 8.

FIG. 9 is a partial sectional and a partial elevation view of details of the floor and wall concrete construction of the swimming pool.

FIG. 10 is a top plan view with the deck removed of an alternative construction embodying my invention.

FIG. ll is a side elevation view of FIG. l0.

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary side elevation view of the worm and worm gear arrangement shown diagrammatically in FIG. 11.

The Hoor-cover arrangement constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention comprises a frame 10 supporting a platform or deck 12. The deck 12 which is formed of closely-spaced slats functions as the adjustable lloor for the swimming pool P as well as the cover for the pool when the same is elevated over the surface of the water in the pool. The deck 12 is suspended by a plurality of cables 14. Each free end 16 of cable 14 is secured to the top inside faces 18 of the swimming pool at 15, just below the coping 17. The cables 14 pass over the sheaves 20 which dress the cables in the proper direction for smoothly elevating and lowering said iloorcover. The floor-cover for the swimming pool may be raised or lowered to any level to establish a predetermined depth of the pool, or to completely cover the pool forming a protective platform therefor. Moreover, the platform, when elevated, may be utilized as additional floor space. The cables 14 terminate in an equalizer 22, the purposes of which will be explained hereinafter. The equalizer 22 is pivotally pinned to the end of the piston rod 24 of piston 25 reciprocating inthe cylinder 26. Compressed air or any other suitable iluid is directed through the port 2S at the left hand end of work end of the cylinder 26 causing the piston 25 to move to the right. When this movement is effected, the cables 14 are shortened thereby elevating the iioor-cover in the pool enclosure. Another port 30 is provided on the right hand side of cylinder 26 and is opened while raising and lowering the Hoor-cover, but is closed at other times, thereby locking the piston 25 in cylinder 26. To lower the iloorcover, the .iluid is vented out of port 28. The equalizer 22 pivots to permit the equalization of the forces transmitted to each of the cables 14.

The underside of the frame 10 is provided at spaced locations with several stabilizing devices referred to generally by the numeral 32. These stabilizing devices function to maintain the frame 10 level with respect to the pool deck 12 and to further act as a multiplicity of supports, thereby reducing the span of the frame 10 and conseq-uently reducing the strength requirement of said frame. A number of bearings 34 are mounted to the underside of frame 10 in spaced relationship. A plurality of link bars 36 are pivotally mounted on the bearings 34. -Each link bar 36 is pivotally connected to a bearing 35. Also pivotally connected to bearing 35 are torsion arms 38. The lower end of each torsion arm 38 is rigidly connected to an elongated torsion bar 40 which is supported by bearings 42 rigidly mounted on the pool floor F. It should be noted that the torsion bar 40 is positioned substantially perpendicular to the plane of said torsion arms 38.

On larger pools and pools of more complex constructions, the stabilizing devices 312 are provided with an auxiliary cylinder 44 -with a reciprocating piston 46 therein as seen in FIGS. and 6. The cylinder 44 is pivotally secured to a bearing 48 located on the pool oor. The piston rod 5t) of the piston 46 is connected to the torsion arm 38. Thus, compressed air or hydraulic fluid is forced through port 52 on the left hand side of cylinder `44 and the piston 46 pushes the torsion arm 38 causing it to rise thereby assisting in elevating the frame as seen in FIG. 5. During the lowering of the frame 10, the port 52 is opened permitting the internal pressure in the cylinder to be relieved. The iioor-cover then assumes the position illustrated in FIG. 6.

`Compressed air is tapped off the system and supplied through a sparger pipe 54 into the pool water in order to kill algae and bacteria present in the pool. The sparger pipe 54 is provided with a series of spaced holes and is located adjacent to the bottom of the pool, permitting compressed air to be propelled out of the holes and into the pool water at a relatively deep level.

It will be observed that the lifting and lowering of the floor-cover in a swimming pool results in the surging of pool water and the escape of measurable portions thereof in the overow located at the periphery of the pool. As seen in FIG. 7 and in order to prevent the loss of surging pool water, the drain line from the skimmer 56 at the top water level is provided with an expansion tank 5S connected to the suction side of the filter pump 60 of the swimming pool, through a iioat valve 62 which remains in the open position as long as there is water in the expansion tank 58. Check valve 64 prevents the return of water into expansion tank 58. With the foregoing arrangement, the loss through surging of the pool water is eliminated and the water is returned to the pool.

FIGS. '8 and y8a illustrates another embodiment of the present invention in which like parts are identified with like reference numerals. FIG. 8 discloses a pool with four, spaced lift points. FIG. 8a shows one of the lift poldnts in side elevation with the cable 14 secured to the upper part of the pool wall, said cable passing under the sheave toward the piston 25 of the cylinder 26.

It should be apparent that the present floor-cover can be adapted to any pool figuration and it is not limited to rectangular or circular shapes.

FIG. 9 discloses details of the floor and wall concrete construction of the swimming pool. In the past, concrete construction of swimming pools, the positioning and holding of the `waterstop and key at the junction of the oor with the walls has been diiiicult and expensive. The present key holder has been devised in order to overcome past difficulties. In this connection, arm 66 nails to the outside of the base concrete form 68 at the top of the concrete pour line. Part 70 bolts to part 66 through one of the adjustable holes 72. The Waterstop 74 is sandwiched between the t-wo parts 76 and 78 of the wood key and is inserted below the lower ends of arm 66 and part 70 and is preferably held there by driving a wedge 80 into the space between the arm 66 and part 70. This device is both inexpensive and rapid, and effectively holds the seals at the junction area of the concrete floor and wall.

FIGS. 10 and l1 illustrate an alternative embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. l and FIG. 8 in which lift cable 14 is anchored at one end to the top of the pool wall as shown in FIG. 8a. The cable 14 passes under sheaves 20 and terminates on spool 82. The spool 82 and fluid motor 94 are mounted on the underside of the floor cover. The spool 82 is mounted on a shaft 84 positioned vertically in frame 10 by means of bearing members 86. A worm gear 88 is iixed to the shaft 184 and engages Vwith the worm 90. The latter is iixed to the shaft 92 of said reversible fluid motor 94, which may be air or hydraulically operated. Thus, when the motor 94 is operative, the

4 worm and worm gear combination causes the spool `82 to rotate thereby elevating or lowering the deck 12 as desired.

FIGS. 13 and 14 disclose a further embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. l, 8 and 10 respectively wherein a lead screw is connected at one end to equalizer `22 through a nut 102 rotatable on screw 100i. Connected to the other end of lead screw 100 is a reversible .fluid motor 104. The motor 104 is mounted on a portion of frame 10i. The present construction offers great mechanical advantage with a small power consumption as the nut 102 is caused to go out or in on the lead screw to thereby selectively lengthen or shorten the cables 14.

What I claim is:

1. A combination floor-cover for a swimming pool with a surrounding deck area comprising means for elevating and lowering said floor-cover, said means being mounted substantially horizontally under the oor-cover and including a cable system in which one end of each of the cables is secured to the inner wall of said swimming pool, an equalizer, the other end of each of said cables being connected to said equalizer, said equalizer being operatively connected to said elevating and lowering means, and no parts of said means are located on said deck area, said cables being selectively shortened and lengthened in order to elevate and lower said Hoor-cover respectively.

2. A combination Hoor-cover for a swimming pool with a surrounding deck area as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means for elevating and lowering said floor-cover is `a hydraulic piston-cylinder arrangement.

3. A combination floor-cover for a swimming pool with a surrounding deck area as claimed in claim 1 Iwherein said means for elevating and lowering said floor-cover is a pneumatic piston-cylinder arrangement.

4. A combination floor-cover for a swimming pool as set forth in claim 1 further comprising a stabilizing device to maintain the floor-cover level relative to said deck including a plurality of pivotal arms extending substantially perpendicular to said oor-cover and acting as supports for said floor-cover.

5. A combination floor-cover for a swimming pool as set forth in claim 1 further comprising an expansion tank so arranged to receive the overflow water from said swimming pool when said Hoor-cover is being operated, a lter pump for said swimming pool, a conduit connecting said expansion tank with the suction side of said lter pump, a ioat valve in said conduit to permit water from said expansion tank to be conducted to the suction side of said lter pump and a check valve to prevent the return of water to said expansion tank.

6. A combination floor-cover for a swimming pool as set forth in claim 3 further comprising a compressor, means for supplying compressed air from said compressor to said cylinder and for separately `supplying additional compressed air from said compressor to the pool water to thereby inhibit the formation of algae :and bacteria therein.

7. A combination tioor-cover for a swimming pool as set forth in claim 1 and further comprising a two-part key, and a key holder clamping said key and water stop in a rigid condition to thereby hold said key and water stop at the junction of the pool floor and wall to prevent water flow therethrough.

8. A combination floor-cover for a swimming pool as set forth in claim 1 further comprising a stabilizing device to maintain the floor-cover level relative to said deck including a plurality of arms each pivoted to said oorcover at one end thereof, a torsion bar having a plurality of torsion rods extending perpendicular to said torsion bar and being pivotally connected to said arms.

9. A combination hoor-cover for a swimming pool as claimed in claim 4 further comprising an additional piston-cylinder arrangement connected to at least one of said torsion rods and to said pool structure to thereby further assist in the elevating and lowering of said iloor-cover.

10. A combination floor-cover for a swimming pool with a surrounding deck area as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means for elevating and lowering said floor-cover is a mechanical lead screw, a nut on said lead screw operatively connected to said cable system, and further comprising a fluid motor for rotating said lead screw whereby said nut causes said cable system to be operative.

11. A combination oor-cover for a swimming pool as set forth in claim 3 further comprising a source of compressed air, means for supplying compressed air from said source to the pool Water in order to inhibit the formation of algae and bacteria therein.

LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Lusk. Turner. Karp. Sears. Price. Berman. Pearlson. Brunson.

H. K. ARTIS, Assistant Examiner. 

